London, Aug. 1 -- The economic confidence index, which measures business owners' optimism about the UK economy, has fallen to its lowest level since 2016, according to a survey published on Friday by the UK's Institute of Directors (IoD).
"The IoD Directors' Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism about the prospects for the UK economy, fell to -72 in July 2025 from -53 in June. This exceeds the previous record low of -69 in April 2020 and marks the lowest reading of the Index since its introduction in July 2016," the IoD, a body representing the country's business leaders, said in a statement.
The index is calculated based on the percentage of positive responses from IoD members to the question "How optimistic ...